“Pity the nation that wears cloth it does not weave, eats bread it does not harvest”: USD 14.66 billion in deficit of balance of trade largely due to high consumption

 The deficit in the balance of trade until October of 2014 recorded an accrued deficit of USD 14.660 billion thus scoring an increase in deficit of USD 1.432 billion USD compared with the same period last year and this according to Lebanon's official data.  As a result, Lebanon's imports bill skyrocketed to USD 17.452 billion whereas exports did not exceed USD 2.792 billion.  To be noted that the Lebanese balance of trade suffers from a historical structural deficit due to the nature of domestic industry which cannot meet all internal demands, the poor competitiveness of a number of Lebanese products in regional and international markets except for the case of food processing and manufactured goods.  According to An Nahar newspaper, it is possible to address these handicaps by offering incentives to Lebanese investors and producers, raising awareness on improving quality, decreasing costs, raising competitiveness and opening new and sustainable external markets for Lebanese products.

With regards to agriculture and food security, agricultural cooperatives in the Beqaa organised a general meeting last Saturday at the Chamber of Trade, Industry and Agriculture to focus on the stagnation of the agriculture sector, poor export records and unfair competition from external sources.  Participants in the meeting asked the state to interfere in protecting and supporting Lebanese products especially potatoes.  During the meeting, the president of the Coalition of Farmers in the Beqaa, Ibrahim Tarshishi, noted that 2014 was a bad year for farmers especially for potato farmers.  He added that the responsibility stems from poor organisation of import as 40000 tons of seeds were imported leading to an increase in planted areas and an increase in potato production to well beyond local demand.  Other circumstances that negatively affected farmers include climate change, and the deteriorated security situation.  Potato farmers asked for a halt in importation of Egyptian potatoes as of the first of February and until the end of March 2015 so that they are able to sell their harvest. Further North, and despite the recent relative improvement in pricing and marketing due to the improvement f the security situation in that geographical area, citrus farmers in Akkar noted that their plight remained the same and called on the relevant Ministries to protect their harvest through concluding economic agreements with Arab and European countries to facilitate the marketing of Lebanese produce which is considered to be the best in the region.

 (Source: Al-Mustaqbal, Al- Nahar, Al-Diyarm and As-Safir 29 December 2014)